Sorting machine



8- 1944- J. DICHTER 2,355,280

SORTING MACHINE Filed May 20, 1940 172 en for JAK OB D/UHTER .6 forney.

Patented. Aug. 8, 1944 orrlcs S'ORTING MACHINE Q Jakob Dichter,Berlinvested in the Alien Application May 26,1940, Serial No.

Schone berg, Germany; Property Custodian In Germany March 31, 1939 1Claim. ((1209-82) The present invention relates to apparatus forinteriorly gauging cylindrical glass tubes, the necks of vials, andsimilar glass articles, and for sorting the articlesto separate thosehaving incorrect measurements from those the measurements of which arethose desired for particular uses. Many glass receptacles in use at thepresent time are provided with internal screw threads to accommodatethreaded closures, the latter being applied to the receptacles bymachine. Other types of receptacles are closed by means of rubber plugswhich may be forced inwardly of the receptacle to function as pistonsand thus expel the contents therefrom. It is important that thediameters of the receptacles and the threads thereon be kept withinpredetermined limits to insure an accurate fit of the cooperatingclgsures and plugs.

This invention has for one of its objects the provision of gaugingdevices designed to reject articles having incorrect dimensions and theseparation thereof from articles having the desired predeterminedmeasurements,

Another object of the invention is to provide conveying mechanism ofsuch a character that it can be associated with glass shaping machinerynow in use and permit gauging without removing the articles from theshaping apparatus to another machine.

Other objects will be apparent from the following description of theinvention taken with the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is asectional view of the measuring apparatus, parts thereof being shown inelevation;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view 2-2 in Fig. 1.

The disclosed mechanism is adapted for gauging interior threads as wellas smooth interior surfaces, such as glass tubes, necks of vials andsimilar articles. A tubularvial 28 is so supported upon a notchedtrackway 3| that a slight movement of the vial in an axial directionwill unbalance the blank and permit it to tilt, whereupon it will fallinto a suitable receptacle. As illustrated in the drawing, a conveyingmeans is taken along the line provided comprising sprockets I upon whichchains 29 are mounted, said means having pegs or fingers 29 thereon.Preferably, the chain is driven intermittently by any suitable meanssuch as a conventional Geneva gear. The intermittent driving connectionshown, specifically comprises sprocket shaft la, beveled gears 2 and 3,shaft 4, star plate 5, plate 1, shaft 8, sprocket 9, sprocket chain It,sprocket II, and drive shaft I2. The drive shaft continuously rotates,thus continuously rotating plate I, pin 6 and shaft 8. During a portionof each revolution of shaft 8, the pin 6 enters one of the slots 5a ofthe star plate, which in turn rotates star plate 5, shaft 4, gears 2 and3, and shaft la, each a fraction of a revolution, to thereby cause thechains 29 to advance approximately the distance between adjacent notches3m in bar 3|. Although a conventional Geneva gear is provided forintermittently driving the conveyor, it is to be understood that othersuitable intermittent drives could be employed without departing fromthe invention, because the intermittent drive per se is not a part ofthe invention.

The blanks are supported by a plate 30 and a notched bar 3|, the notchesIla in the latter accurately positioning the blanks with respect to thegauging device. The latter consists of a gauge member 34 held in thereciprocable rod 33 slidable in bearing 32. The bearing is adjustablehorizontally as well as vertically, set screw 43 and nut 44 beingprovided for this purpose. Lever 35 fulcrumed at 36 is adapted to berocked by cam 31, spring 38 normally urging one end of the lever towardthe cam. The other end of lever 35 is provided with a yoke 45 whichcooperates with pin 46 on collar 41 which is adjustable on rod 33. Whenthe chains 29 and tubes are at rest, the gauging member 34 is adapted tobe moved by cam 31 toward the open end of tube 28 to gauge the same.Obviously, if the gauge .member is larger than the internal diameter ofthe blank or tube, the latter will be moved axially until it tilts andfalls onto slide 39, from which it falls into basket 40, If the gauge issmaller than the opening, the tube will not be affected, and thereforethe tube will continue to roll from notch to notch to the end of thetrack along with the conveyor. In this manner, the blanks may besuccessively sorted into a plurality of sizes.

While a preferred form of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed. in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notto be construed as being limited to the exact details shown, but may bemodified within the terms of the appended claim.

. What I claim as my invention is:

A machine for sorting elongated tubular bodies and the like withreference to a prescribed internal bore dimension, comprising anelongated track having a plurality of notches in the upper,

surface thereof for supporting the intermediate portions of said bodies,means forintermittently 2 asoaaeo moving said bodies transversely of thelongltudiwhen the dimension of the bore is at least equal nal axesthereof along the upper surface of said to said prescribed dimension,and to engage the track to a plurality of stations, said notchesservadjacent portions of the tube when the bore is ing as a centeringmeans for said bodies at said less than said prescribeddimension,'whereby a stations, and a gauging element associated with 5tube having an undersized bore will be discharged at least one of saidstations, and means for refrom said track by said reciprocating gaugingciprocating said gauging element in the axial dielement. rection of thebore in said centered body, said JAKOB DICHTER.

gauging element being of a size to enter said bore

